Muguruza comeback ends in defeat

Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko knocked out defending champion Garbine Muguruza after recovering from a break down in the deciding set to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Wednesday.

The Spaniard was playing in her first match since Wimbledon after suffering from an arm injury.

“I think it was a very ugly match, but I’m happy that I fought,” Muguruza said after the match.

“You know, the level wasn’t very high, but at the end she managed to come back in the third set and play better and found a way to keep winning and win the match.”

“I felt good. I’m happy that I didn’t feel pain,” she said. “Obviously I didn’t have a lot of practices to try to recover, so I had to manage a little bit. I’m happy that I didn’t felt pain. I competed. It didn’t go my way. I’m going to take that positive and keep training for US Open.”

Meanwhile, Kiki Bertens reached the third round after second seed Caroline Wozniacki was forced to retire with a knee injury.

“I’m sorry that she had to retire,” Bertens said. “I hope she’ll be better soon and ready for [the US Open]. From my side, it’s a little bit tough to play at night. I’d rather play during the day when it’s warm, but I was just trying to play aggressive.”

Wozniacki called the trainer at 5-4 down in the first set and retired shortly after her Dutch opponent claimed the set after winning the next game.

Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber was a winner, the German advancing to the last 16 with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Top seed Simona Halep’s match was suspended with the Romanian 4-3 up in the final set against Alisa Tomljanovic of Australia. Tomljanovic took the first set 6-4 before Halep fought back to take the second 6-3.